Muppets Tonight
Muppets Tonight is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented comedy television series, created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring the Muppets. The series ran for two seasons between March 8, 1996 to February 8, 1998, originally airing on ABC before later being aired and rerun on the Disney Channel. The show was a continuation of The Muppet Show, with Kermit the Frog and the Muppets running their own television channel and studio.
The series brought back several Muppet characters from The Muppet Show while introducing several new ones to the program, and made parodies of television programs ranging from game shows, talk shows, and educational entertainment. Each episode featured one principal guest star, but a number of episodes also featured additional guest stars; one episode featured a cameo from Leonard Nimoy. Muppets Tonight received mixed reviews from critics.
Format
The premise of Muppets Tonight was that Clifford was the host of a variety/talk show on KMUP. The show stuck closely to The Muppet Show format of various skits interspersed with some sort of crisis occurring backstage.Characters
Returning Muppets
The Muppet characters performed by Frank Oz appeared intermittently on Muppets Tonight due to scheduling conflicts with his directing career.- Clifford – Host of the show. Although he had visible eyes in this series instead of his previous sunglasses, he went back to wearing sunglasses for all of his appearances after Muppets Tonight ended. At the MuppetFest convention in 2001, Clash revealed that he preferred Clifford wearing sunglasses, refusing to perform the character again unless he was wearing them.
- Kermit the Frog – Producer of the show
- Animal
- Zoot
- Beauregard – Janitor of KMUP
- Bean Bunny
- Behemoth – Ernst Stavros Grouper's assistant
- Dr. Bunsen Honeydew – The scientist and inventor from Muppet Labs who shows off his inventions on the show
- Beaker – Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's assistant
- Dr. Julius Strangepork – Appears in a "Bay of Pigswatch" sketch as the lifeguard inspector as seen in the Pierce Brosnan episode
- Clueless Morgan – A goat who previously appeared in the 1996 film Muppet Treasure Island; appears in the "At the Bar" sketch co-owning a bar with Polly Lobster, who also previously appeared in Muppet Treasure Island
- The Elvises – A group of Muppets resembling Elvis Presley that star in "Great Moments in Elvis History"
- Eugene – A mink who serves as Nigel's assistant
- George the Janitor – Janitor of KMUP
- Gonzo – Does his stunt shows on the show
- Fozzie Bear
- J.P. Grosse – The owner of the Muppet Theater who makes cameos as a crew member. In the Sandra Bullock episode, he appears in "The Tubmans of Porksmith" as Howard Tubman's doctor
- Miss Piggy
- Mulch – Dr. Phil van Neuter's assistant ; in one sketch, it is revealed that he has a sister named Composta Heap to whom Dr. Phil van Neuter is engaged
- Polly Lobster – A lobster who previously appeared in Muppet Treasure Island; appears in the "At the Bar" sketch co-owning a bar with Clueless Morgan
- Rizzo the Rat – Production assistant of the show
- Rowlf the Dog – Makes some appearances playing pianos in some acts
- Sam the Eagle – Hosts "The Eagle's Nest"
- Andy and Randy Pig – Miss Piggy's moronic nephews who work backstage and appear in the sketch "Bay Of Pigswatch"
- Statler and Waldorf – Usually seen heckling the show from an unnamed retirement home
- Sweetums
New Muppets
- A. Ligator – A pink vulture who serves as the show's announcer
- Barbershop Cactus Quartet – A group of four cacti who make up their own barbershop quartet
- Big Mean Carl – A green shaggy monster. He often uses disguises or variety acts to disguise his intentions of eating other Muppets or objects, and eats the prized pet whenever a contestant loses Swift Wits. He also makes some audience appearances
- Bill the Bubble Guy – A blue-skinned Muppet who can make bubbles come out of his head; first appears in the Garth Brooks episode where the Head of the Network threatened to replace Clifford with Bill if Brooks did not sing one of his country songs.
- Bobo the Bear – A bear who works as a security guard
- Captain Pighead – A pig who serves as the captain of the new Swinetrek in the "Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine" segments.
- Craniac – An alien with a brain for a head; a crew member on the Swinetrek in the "Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine" segments.
- Cue Card Monster – A small green monster with long arms who works as the cue card holder.
- Darci – She was featured in "The Real World Muppets" segments
- David Hoggselhoff – A pig who is the star of "Bay of Pigswatch"
- Dr. Pain – A doctor who appears on "E-I-E-I-O R"
- Dr. Phil van Neuter – A mad scientist who hosts "Tales from the Vet"
- Ernst Stavros Grouper – An eyepatch-wearing grouper who is the chairman and CEO of The Grouper Group which bought out Carni-Vore Industries in the episode that guest stars Don Rickles and Coolio.
- Floor Manager – The unnamed floor manager of K-MUP
- Gary Cahuenga – A ventriloquist's dummy with a mind of his own
- Head of the Network – Clifford's unnamed boss at K-MUP who first appears in the "Garth Brooks" episode wanting Clifford to get Garth Brooks to perform a country song or he will give Clifford's time slot to Bill the Bubble Guy; makes background appearances in the control room in later episodes
- Howard Tubman – A rich food-loving pig who is featured in "The Tubmans of Porksmith"
- * Carter – Howard Tubman's elderly doddering butler
- Johnny Fiama – A Rat Pack-style singer
- Jowls – A wrinkly faced man who leads a house band called the Muppets Tonight Band
- Larry – A crew member at K-MUP
- Mr. Poodlepants – An eccentric character with a strange fashion style
- Muppets Tonight Writers – A group of three monkeys who did the writing for the show as seen in the "Andie MacDowell" episode
- Nigel – A green monster with a long pointy nose who serves as the show's stressed-out director
- Pepe the King Prawn – A king prawn who serves as the elevator operator and commissary cook; often paired up with Seymour; speaks with a heavy Spanish accent
- Pokey – A monster who appears in unnamed appearances in this show.
- Sal Minella – A chimpanzee who serves as Johnny Fiama's flunky, bodyguard, and assistant
- Seymour – An elephant who serves as the elevator operator and commissary cook; often paired with Pepe
- Snookie Blyer – The host of the game show "Swift Wits"
- Snorty – A pig who appears in the "Pigs in Space: Deep Dish Nine" segments
- Spamela Hamderson – A pig who is a spoof of Pamela Anderson. She stars in "Bay Of Pigswatch" and appears whenever a femme fatale is needed.
- Thor – The God of Thunder who is seen doing everyday mundane tasks; whenever someone angered him, Thor would strike the person with lightning
- Zippity Zap – A frog who is one of the crew members on the show
- Female Rock Lobster –
- Fairyland Police Chief
Recurring sketches
- Bay of Pigswatch – A parody of Baywatch starring David Hoggselhoff as Champ Schwimmer, Spamela Hamderson as Spamela, and Andy and Randy Pig as Donnie and Art C. Shell where they work as lifeguards at a beach. with Guest Stars Miss Piggy And Dr Julius Strangepork.
- Carl the Big Mean... – Sketches which involve Carl doing an act, which usually ends up incorporating him eating someone or something, e.g., biting the head off a ventriloquist's puppet, predicting someone would be eaten, and eating him, as a psychic.
- E-I-E-I-O R – In a parody of ER, it features Fozzie Bear working at a hospital where the doctors and patients pass around humor; Fozzie is assisted by Dr. Pain, Ernst Stavro Grouper, and an Afghan Hound.
- Great Moments in Elvis History – In a parody of Great Moments in History, the moments in history are reenacted by a bunch of Muppet versions of Elvis Presley.
- Pigs In Space: Deep Dish Nine – In a sequel to "Pigs in Space", Miss Piggy is featured on the new Swinetrek with a different crew. The title is a spoof of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- Screen Tests – A bunch of screen tests that featured the Muppets auditioning in a movie that featured the guest stars of the episodes it was featured in.
- Tales from the Vet – In a parody of Tales from the Crypt, Dr. Phil van Neuter tells scary stories revolving around animals.
- The Eagle's Nest – Sam the Eagle talks about politics and other issues with Andy and Randy Pig as his recurring guests.
- The Johnny Fiama Show – A talk show hosted by Johnny Fiama.
- NYPD Green - A parody of NYPD Blue, where crimes are investigated by Kermit as Detective Amphibowicz, at least when the network censor's not interrupting.
- The Real World Muppets – A spoof of The Real World that follows Clifford, Rizzo the Rat, Bobo the Bear, Bill the Bubble Guy, and Darci living together in one house.
- Thor: God of Thunder – Deals with Thor doing every day mundane tasks.
- UK Spots – There were some UK Spots that were in this show due to the United Kingdom version not having any commercials.
- * Fairyland PD – Clifford and Bobo the Bear work as detectives at the Fairyland Police Department under the supervision of their police chief; Clifford and Bobo are charged with the duties of solving mysteries revolving around nursery rhymes and fairy tales.
- * Mr. Callahan – Features the unseen Mr. Callahan who is a regular customer at a bar owned by Polly Lobster and Clueless Morgan with this sketch being at Mr. Callahan's point of view.
- * Swift Wits – A game show that stars Snookie Blyer. In it, one must guess a secret word in 10 seconds to stop Carl from eating an adorable animal. In 5 of the 6 cases, the contestant failed spectacularly, and, on the occasion the contestant got the word correct - without clues - Carl defied Snookie to eat both the pet and then the contestant.
- * The Tubmans of Porksmith – Follows the comical misadventures of a rich food-loving pig named Howard Tubman and his butler Carter.
Series run
In the United Kingdom only the first thirteen episodes of the show were transmitted. BBC1 screened the first 11 episodes at 7pm on Friday evenings from 6 September – 15 November 1996 with the last two going on 30th and 31st December at Lunchtimes. Sky One picked up the series in late December 1996 and continued to repeat episodes until Spring 1999. The BBC repeated 10 episodes in late August 1999.
In Ireland the show was broadcast on TG4, eventually being dubbed into Irish Gaelic.
In Canada, the show originally aired on CBC, and later moved to Family Channel in conjunction with Disney Channel's airings.